Vodafone to Change Prices from 11 Oct 2011

fox2319

Right. I've received a reply from the ombudsman which is less than useful. It says:

How Vodafone Ltd. provides a service to you, and on what terms, are 'commercial decisions'. For example, if a company decides to introduce a charge for providing a monthly itemised paper bill, this is a commercial decision. We cannot look at this type of complaint. Your complaint appears to be about a commercial decision because you are complaining about contractual price increases.

Less than useful really. I've got an email in to my MP and Guy L again so will wait to see how that goes but reading the Ombudsman's reply, it seems like court would be the only way to take this further.

lyndseyplastic

Spoke to Vodafone today asked them to send me a copy of the email I sent on the 11th October. I recieved a auto-reply to say they had recieved it, vodafone are stating they didn't recieve it!!!
Had all my personal info on account details the lot!
I'd love to know where all my details have got to surely that's a breach of data protection!
Fuming

lyndseyplastic

fox2319 wrote: »

Right. I've received a reply from the ombudsman which is less than useful. It says:

How Vodafone Ltd. provides a service to you, and on what terms, are 'commercial decisions'. For example, if a company decides to introduce a charge for providing a monthly itemised paper bill, this is a commercial decision. We cannot look at this type of complaint. Your complaint appears to be about a commercial decision because you are complaining about contractual price increases.

Less than useful really. I've got an email in to my MP and Guy L again so will wait to see how that goes but reading the Ombudsman's reply, it seems like court would be the only way to take this further.

Did u state that they'd lied and changed the contract on the 10th of October. Rather than the 11th like they had stated?

fox2319

lyndseyplastic wrote: »

Did u state that they'd lied and changed the contract on the 10th of October. Rather than the 11th like they had stated?

No but the impression I get from them is that if it's 'just' a change to T&Cs, they won't do a thing about it. No doubt vodafone know this and were counting on the ombudsman being a chocolate teapot.

lyndseyplastic

Seems like court is the next option then. Seems a bit odd that the ombudsman is refusing to do anything. Have you complained to ofcom too x

lyndseyplastic

On Ombudsman Service website this is what it states ;

Complaints that we can deal with
!
The types of complaints that we can deal with include:
Bills
Problems resulting from a communication company’s sales activity
Problems resulting from switching from one company to another
Customer service problems such as poor service or failing to act on a request
!
Complaints that we cannot deal with
!
The types of complaints that we cannot deal with include:
The terms and conditions of a service
Complaints about products or services that are bought or rented from companies that are not signed up to our scheme
The location of telegraph poles or mobile phone masts
Problems relating to cabling and wiring inside a property
The content of internet sites, advertisements, calls, emails, texts, or any other type of message
Complaints about premium rate service providers

So I would go down the route of

Customer service problems such as poor service or failing to act on a request

enigma368

Hi musical_norwich. Thanks for your help on this.

Ofcoms condition 9.3 seems quite clear. The only thing I would like to clarify is if an increase in call charges counts as a modification of the contract?

I have received my PAC from Vodafone but they refuse to let me cancel my contract without penalty. How confident out of 100 would you be, if I were to move networks, that I could successfully fight Vodafone on paying the termination fee?

diamonds

You should ALL copy the above from musical_norwich and add Viv in, as EU comissioner OFCOM might actually start behaving like a regulator on a large matter of things - namely why does the UK have no independent Telecom Ombusman ?

Warrick

The ombudsman were a bit cagey when I spoke to them today, stating that it sounded like a "commercial issue", but I made sure I told them I was questioning not only the T&Cs change, but the fact I would be financially disadvantaged as a result, and the fact that their CS representatives had repeatedly lied.

Still, if they don't want to take the case I'll happily go to court.

Had a call from the director's office today saying they've read my email to Ofcom and they'll call me tomorrow - They're probably fairly gutted they've sent me a deadlock letter saying they notified me of the changes on the 15th of September, when that's less than 30 days before the charges took effect.

musical_norwich

Warrick wrote: »

The ombudsman were a bit cagey when I spoke to them today, stating that it sounded like a "commercial issue", but I made sure I told them I was questioning not only the T&Cs change, but the fact I would be financially disadvantaged as a result, and the fact that their CS representatives had repeatedly lied.

Still, if they don't want to take the case I'll happily go to court.

Had a call from the director's office today saying they've read my email to Ofcom and they'll call me tomorrow - They're probably fairly gutted they've sent me a deadlock letter saying they notified me of the changes on the 15th of September, when that's less than 30 days before the charges took effect.

That is great news. I will be amazed if Vodafone does not settle. Vodafone is breaking the law, OFCOM are failing to enforce it and both know it. Vodafone will settle under pressure from OFCOM. What I would really like to see is OFCOM behaving as a regulator rather than a poodle. What about all the other consumers being ripped off who don't know the law? Why isn't OFCOM protecting them?